


And the boys go on and on and on and on

by inmyrosegarden



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, and thats not how you spell bored, idk man i was inspired, jk i was broed, sigh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-17
Updated: 2013-04-17
Packaged: 2017-12-08 19:08:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/764967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inmyrosegarden/pseuds/inmyrosegarden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Harry has a problem with Louis' boyfriend and Louis doesn't really understand why--until he does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And the boys go on and on and on and on

**Author's Note:**

> everything about this is ridiculous bc i'm ridiculous hyfr 
> 
> (sigh, title from "and the boys" by angus + julia stone)

“Fromage,” Harry says with conviction. “Fro- _mage_. That means cheese, right?” He flops on his belly on Louis’ bed, curls flying everywhere. After blowing a strand of hair out of his face, he looks down at Louis with his eyebrows furrowed.

“Yeah,” Louis huffs from his position on the floor. He’s in the middle of doing one-hundred pushups and usually, Harry’s distractions are well sought after during times like this. However, the fact that Harry expects Louis to answer him while he does _pushups_ is not okay.

After three more pushups, Louis gives up. He lets his back fall onto the hard wooden floor and he spreads out his arms and legs. “I hate you,” he mutters, out of breath. “You made me lose count!”

Harry snorts and places his chin in the palm of his hands. “Good. That was my plan, y’know? I wasn’t even studying French.”

Louis throws a pout his way. “Why are you so opposed to me working out?!”

Harry sighs. “I don’t care that you _are_  working out, I care _why_ you’re working out.”

“Harry, it’s not a big deal! Just because you don’t like Nick, doesn’t mean—“

“Lou _is_.” Harry interrupts _._ It’s his turn to pout now and he’s looking down at Louis with big, sad eyes. “Your boyfriend is a jerk and I don’t like him for a _reason_! He puts you _down._ And that’s not one of the sign of a healthy relationship.”

Louis pushes off the ground, suddenly angry. “Oh like _you_ would know,” he mutters under his breath.

Harry’s eyebrows knit together again. It’s a look that’s almost permanently etched onto his face these days. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means exactly what you think it does,” Louis retorts as he steps into his closet, looking for fresh clothes to wear. “You’ve never even _been_ in a relationship. I don’t think you should be giving _me_ relationship advice.”

“Well maybe if you actually listened to the advice I gave you, you wouldn’t have so many—“

“Have so many _what_ Harry!?”

“You wouldn’t have so many failed relationships, _Louis!_ ”

Louis stops racking through his clothes and turns around, jaw set. “Ex _cuse_ me?”

“You heard me loud and clear,” Harry says levelheadedly as he rolls off of Louis’ bed. Once he’s standing up straight, he crosses his arms over his chest.

“You need to leave,” Louis declares. “Now.”

Harry looks like he’s been slapped. “We should talk about this, Lou.”

Louis shakes his head and smiles a twisted smile. “There’s nothing _to_ talk about, Harry! You’ve been a douche to me recently and I want you to _get out of my face._ ”

“I only want what’s best for you,” Harry pleads. His voice is choked up and his eyes are brimming with tears (because he has always been the most sensitive out of the two). But Louis disregards that. (Or at least, he tries to.)

Louis’ expression is unreadable when looks at the floor intently and quietly says, “Leave.”

With a shuddering breath, Harry looks at his friend once more. His expression is completely helpless as he stumbles out the door.

Louis swallows thickly and yanks out the first his hand reaches in the closet.

He almost lets his tears spill when he realizes that he’s pulled out Harry jumper. _Almost._

***

Nick picks Louis up at 7 that evening. When Louis gets his boyfriend’s text, he’s tripping over his own feet to get outside. After shoving on his VANS, he calls a “Bye, mum!” over his shoulder and rushes out the door.

Louis sees Nick leaning against the hood of his car, arms crossed over his chest. He’s dressed casually in a ratty old band t-shirt and some ripped-up jeans. Louis resists the urge to roll his eyes at him.

“Hello, hipster,” he calls as he skips over to Nick and pecks him on the lips.

“Mmm,” Nick replies, placing his hands on Louis’ hips and tugging him closer and deepening the kiss. “Hi.”

Louis giggles. “We’re gonna be late for the film,” he mumbles against his boyfriend’s lips.

Nick pulls their lips apart and presses their foreheads together. “How about we skip the film and go back to my place?”

Louis bites his lip. “Yeah that—yeah. Okay.”

Nick snakes his hand up the back of Louis’ shirt, slowly trailing his fingers up Louis’ spine. “Have you been working out?” He asks suddenly, sounding impressed.

Louis smiles smugly. “A little, yeah. Started last week.”

“Good,” Nick smirks. He then lowers his head so that his mouth is at level with Louis’ ear. “Can’t wait to see you naked.”

“Then don’t,” Louis chuckles.

Nick laughs and tugs Louis’ hand, dragging him to the passenger seat. Once they’re both in the car, Nick doesn’t even wait another second before driving off.

It’s a force of habit that Louis doesn’t hesitate to look back at his house through the rearview mirror as Nick’s car pulls away. He also can’t help but look a little to the left at the neighboring house; Harry’s house.

He’s actually quite surprised to see Harry standing outside on his lawn, looking at Nick’s car as it drives off. He looks like he was in the middle of watering his mum’s garden as a watering hose hangs limply from his hand, spewing water continuously at the same patch of grass.

Harry looks hurt as he continues to watch the car, and suddenly, everything clicks in Louis’ mind as he watches his best friend’s figure grow smaller and smaller the further the car drives.

His stomach sinks and he suddenly feels nauseous.

_Shit._

***

Louis is not a virgin. He hasn’t been one for two years.

He’s got a feeling his mum knows that. And he’s also got a feeling his mum always knows when he’s had sex the night before. She always ends up smiling smugly at breakfast, that _I know what you’ve been up to_ look on her face. Things should be awkward but they’re not, as odd as that is. Louis is not the kind of person to have any boundaries, so he doesn’t exactly try to hide his limping. He doesn’t care who knows that he’s gotten lucky.

And well, Louis supposes that Jay _knows_ things about him because she’s his mum. So it makes sense that he figures that she’ll be able to enlighten him on the whole “Harry situation” as well.

“Hey, mum?” Louis asks the next morning while they’re both eating their oatmeal in the kitchen.

“Hmm?”

“Do you think Harry’s got a crush on me?”

Louis’ mum sputters, coughing a bit into her fist. “Lou— _what?”_

Louis pushes his bowl to the side and folds his hand on the table in front of him. “Well it makes sense, y’know? He’s always grumpy when I get a new boyfriend. Or when I tell him that I’ve gotten laid.”

“Louis!” Jay scolds. “I know you know that I know that you’ve got a—a _sex_ life but please. Don’t talk about it so _casually_ at the breakfast table!”

Louis rolls his eyes. “Sorry, ma’am. As I was saying, though--”

“Oh yes, right. About Harry.” Jay says as she twirls her spoon in her oatmeal. “I thought you boys had already talked about it?”

Louis blinks. “What? Why would you assume that?”

“Well I mean,” Jay begins, laughing a little. “Harry’s not the most subtle boy ever. And you’re not either. So  Anne and I _thought_ you two had discussed it already.”

“Hold on,” Louis says, furrowing his eyebrows. “What do you mean ‘ _you’re not either_ ’? And why’ve you discussed this with Harry’s mum!?”

Jay sighs. “Louis you look at Harry like the sun shines out of his arse—“

“Mum!”

“And you haven’t looked at _any_ of your boyfriends like that. Not even Nick.” Jay sounds serious now. She crosses her arms over her chest and Louis is reminded of how his best friend did that the previous afternoon. He’s reminded of how much of a jerk he was to Harry and he feels sick to his stomach. He wants to apologize to Harry because this is the longest they’ve ever gone without talking and he just _really_ wants to hold Harry close and he wants to make Harry smile (and a part of him tells him that he really wants to kiss Harry too. But he disregards that thought for now).

Louis clears his throat. “I’ve gotta get to school. See ya.”

And with that, he runs upstairs to change. After speeding through his routine quickly—which he’s never done before—Louis grabs his books and rushes out the door, thinking, for the first time, of how he can’t _wait_ to go to school.

***

Third period Biology finally comes and Louis all but sprints to his class. He sits at his and Harry’s lab table and jiggles his leg impatiently until he spots Harry’s curly head as he walks through the door.

Harry ignores Louis completely when he reaches their lab station. He scoots his stool all the way to the edge of the table, sitting and turning away from Louis and towards the board.

Louis roles his eyes. “Can’t stay mad at me forever, Hazza.”

Harry’s silent.

“C’mon, Harry,” Louis pleads. He really doesn’t like fighting with Harry, if he’s being honest. “Please don’t be mad.”

Harry licks his lips and turns around. “You’re the one that yelled at me yesterday,” he mumbles quietly and almost incoherently.

Louis frowns and gets out of his seat, walking around the table and over to Harry. He takes Harry’s hand in his and squeezes gently. “Harry. I’m really sorry.”

Harry looks the other way. “You didn’t seem so upset about it last night.”

Louis lets out a shaky sigh. “Look,” Louis begins. “I know you only said everything you said yesterday because you want what’s best for me. And I’m really sorry I didn’t recognize that. Especially since you were right to warn me,” he confesses croakily.

Harry senses the change in atmosphere and turns back to Louis, eyes big and sad. (Louis thinks he doesn’t like that; he doesn’t like that Harry’s eyes have been so sad for the past little while. He wants Harry’s happy, laughing eyes back. He wants to _be the one_ to bring them back.) “What d’you mean, Lou?”

Louis laughs a little wetly, rolling his eyes at himself and how ridiculous he’s being. (See, just because Harry’s the _most_ sensitive doesn’t mean Louis _isn’t_ sensitive). “Nick broke up with me before school started. The day after he got into my pants.”

Harry frowns, looking stricken. “I’m so sorry, Lou. I didn’t want that to happen, okay? I didn’t want you to be sad. I only ever wanted you to be happy.”

“It’s okay,” Louis smiles a little. “I was gonna break up with him today anyway.”

Harry’s eyebrows fly up to his hairline. “Huh? I thought you liked him!”

Louis opens his mouth to respond, but before he can get anything out, the teacher interrupts them.

“Excuse me, lovebirds! Class begun five minutes ago. If you want to continue canoodling then I suggest you take this _outside_.” Louis and Harry’s classmates snicker.

Louis turns to the teacher who, surprisingly, is smiling at them. She nods once, almost like she’s giving them permission to leave the room, and before she can change her mind, Louis is pulling Harry out of his stool and outside the class.

After slamming the door shut behind them, Louis looks back at Harry. “Well,” he continues. “I do like him, but.” He rubs his hands together nervously, feeling the blush rise on his cheeks. “I realized that I like you more. A lot more.”

It’s silent. The air is thick with tension.

It feels like years later but finally, Harry clears his throat. “What?”

“I think I’ve dated so many boys because I was trying to find someone like you,” Louis says sheepishly. “But I’d really like to stop searching for someone _like_ you. I’d really like to _have_ you. If that’s okay.”

Harry bites his lip and Louis’ eyes zero in on the action. And then Harry’s smirking and Louis’ got to clear his throat before looking back up into Harry’s eyes (which are shining now, _finally_. These are the eyes that Louis adores.) “I don’t kiss until _after_ the first date, Tomlinson.”

Louis pouts, obviously disappointed. Harry laughs and tangles their fingers together, and then he leads Louis back into class.

(They don’t end up holding out until after the first date, though. They barely make it through Bio. And right after class is over, they run into the janitor’s broom closet and make out all through fourth period.

Harry tastes like strawberries and sunshine and Louis never wants another taste on his lips again.)

**Author's Note:**

> sorry i don't even know why i write lol
> 
> also as you can tell, i am obsessed w/ harry's eyebrows ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> also also; i don't hate grimmy ok


End file.
